Kettle with retained spout lid

ABSTRACT

A kettle has a spout closure movable between open and closed conditions, and an actuator assembly manually operable for effecting movement of the closure between the open and closed conditions, the actuator assembly including a retaining mechanism for retaining the closure in each of its open and closed conditions.

BACKGROUND

This application relates to spouted vessels, such as teakettles, and inparticular, relates to the spout closure mechanism for such kettles.

Various types of kettles have heretofore been provided, includingkettles with spouts having closure mechanisms, such as pivoting lids,for opening and closing a spout. Various types of mechanisms have alsobeen providing for effecting opening and closing of the spout lid orother closure.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,959 discloses a kettle with a pivoting handlecoupled to the spout lid, so that when the handle is lifted, such as forlifting the kettle, the weight of the kettle causes the lid to open.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,616 discloses a kettle with a finger-activatedtrigger coupled to the spout closure for moving it to its open position.

In the aforementioned pivoting handle arrangement, the spout lid will beopened whenever the kettle is being carried by the handle, which couldresult in accidental spillage through the spout. Also, in the priortrigger arrangement, the spout lid could accidentally open while thekettle is being carried.

In both these prior arrangements, the spout lid or other closure willautomatically close when the handle or trigger is released. However, itmay be desirable that the spout closure remain open, even when thekettle is not engaged by a user's hand, such as to facilitate fillingthrough the spout. It may also be desired that the spout closure bepositively retained in a closed position.

SUMMARY

There is disclosed herein an improved kettle which permits a spoutclosure to be positively retained in open and closed positions.

In an embodiment, there is provided a vessel, a spout communicating withthe vessel, a handle, a closure movable between open and closedconditions relative to the spout, and an actuator assembly carried bythe vessel and coupled to the closure and manually operable foreffecting movement of the closure between its open and closedconditions, the actuator assembly including a retaining mechanism forretaining the closure in each of its open and closed conditions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the subject mattersought to be protected, there are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings embodiments thereof, from an inspection of which, whenconsidered in connection with the following description, the subjectmatter sought to be protected, its construction and operation, and manyof its advantages should be readily understood and appreciated.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a kettle with a spout closure in aclosed position;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the kettle of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the kettle of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 4-4 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, with the spout closure shown in theopen position;

FIG. 6A is an enlarged perspective view of the actuator assembly of thekettle of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6B is a side elevational view of the assembly of FIG. 6A;

FIG. 6C is a top plan view of the assembly of FIG. 6A; and

FIG. 6D is a sectional view taken generally along the line 6D-6D andFIG. 6C.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-4, there is illustrated a kettle, generallydesignated by the numeral 10, which is in the nature of a tea kettle.The kettle 10 includes a vessel 11 having a generally dome-shaped sidewall 12 closed at the lower end thereof by circular bottom wall 13 forcooperation to define a fluid reservoir. The bottom wall 13 has anupwardly and outwardly inclined peripheral shoulder 14, integral at itsupper end with a laterally outwardly extending raised portion 15, at thedistal edge of which is formed a peripheral lip or channel 16, which isgenerally U-shaped in transverse cross section. The lip 16 receivestherein the lower edge of the vessel side wall 12 and may be sealedthereto in a suitable manner. The bottom wall 13 may be provided with araised annular rib 17 (FIG. 4). It can be seen from FIG. 4 that thebottom wall 13 is configured so as to extend below the bottom edge ofthe side wall 12.

The side wall 12 is provided centrally of its upper end with a largecircular top opening 18, which is defined by an inturned cylindrical lip19 of the side wall 12. The top opening 18 is closed by a cover 20,which includes a concave wall 21 provided at its periphery with arecurved bead 22 integral with a depending cylindrical skirt 23, whichfits snuggly inside the cylindrical lip 19, with the bead 22 resting onthe side wall 12 around the periphery of the opening 18, as can best beseen in FIG. 4. The concave wall 21 is spanned by a raised, arch-typehandle 24.

A cylindrical spout 25 is integral with the side wall 12 around theperiphery of a circular spout hole 26 (FIG. 4), which is disposedadjacent to the top opening 18. The spout 25 may be sealed to the sidewall 12 by suitable means and is provided with an open end 27.

The spout 25 is provided with a closure 30 in the nature of a spout lid,which may be provided with a whistle opening 31. The closure 30 has anelongated lever arm 32, which projects rearwardly of the spout and isprovided at its distal end with a pair of teeth 33 (FIG. 4) and with adepending bias finger 34. The lever arm 32 is pivotally mounted adjacentto its distal end by a pivot pin 35 to a handle 40, which spans the topopening 18. The handle 40 has a rear end 41, which fits over a mountingbracket 42 on the side wall 12 diametrically opposite the spout 25,being fixed to that bracket by a fastener 43. The handle 40 also has afront end 44, which fits over a mounting bracket 45 disposed at thejunction between the spout 25 and the side wall 12, the handle beingfastened to the bracket 45, as by a fastener 46. The handle 40 has anaperture 47 formed therethrough, which communicates with a channel 48formed in the top side of the handle 40 and extending from the aperture47 to the front end 44. The distal end of the lever arm 32 and the pivotpin 35 are disposed in the channel 48, as can best be seen in FIG. 4.

Referring also to FIGS. 6A-6D, there is also provided an actuatorassembly 50 including a trigger button 51, which has a lower surface 52and an upper surface 52 a joined by a stem 53. The trigger button 51 isdisposed in the aperture 47, and also fits through an opening 54 in therear end of an elongated lever arm 55, which extends into aperture 47,the lever arm 55 being mounted for pivotal movement about the axis of apivot pin 56 disposed at the rear end of the channel 48. The opening 54has a large counterbore or recess 57, which seats an enlarged upper endof the trigger button 51. The lower end of the stem 53 is integral withan outwardly and upwardly extending peripheral wall 58, which terminatesat the bottom edge of the lever arm 55 and retains the trigger button 51securely in the opening 54. The lever arm 55 is provided at its forwardend with a pair of teeth 59 disposed for meshing engagement with theteeth 33 of the lever arm 32.

The bias finger 34 of the lever arm 32 forms a part of a retainingmechanism 60, which also includes an over-center spring 61, which may bein the nature of a leaf spring, having a base 62 fixedly secured to thehandle 40 at the bottom of the channel 48, as by the fastener 46, andhaving a distal end 63 which bears against the distal end of the leverarm 32.

In operation, when the spout closure 30 is disposed in its normal closedposition, illustrated in FIGS. 1-4, closing the open end 27 of the spout25, the engagement of the teeth 33 with the teeth 59 holds the lever arm55 pivoted in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 4, so that thelower surface 52 of the trigger button 51 projects downwardly below theunderside of the handle 40. The distal end 63 of the leaf spring 61bears against the bias finger 34 for urging it and the lever arm 32toward rotation in a counter-clockwise direction about the axis of thepivot pin 35, for resiliently holding the parts in the closedconfiguration illustrated in FIG. 4. Thus, when the handle 40 is graspedfor lifting and moving the kettle 10, the closure 30 cannot accidentallyopen, as long as the trigger button 51 is not actuated.

When it is desired to open the closure 30, the user pushes upwardly onthe lower surface 52 of the trigger button 51 with an index finger, forexample, moving the trigger button 51 upwardly and pivoting the leverarm 55 in a counter-clockwise direction, about the axis of the pivot pin56, as viewed in FIG. 4, thereby overcoming the bias of the leaf spring61, and pivoting the lever arm 32 in a clockwise direction about theaxis of the pivot pin 35, as viewed in FIG. 4 for moving the closure 30to an open position, illustrated in FIG. 5. When in this open position,the upper surface 52 a of the trigger button 51 projects upwardly abovethe top surface of the handle 40 and the distal end 63 of the leafspring 61 bears against the rear side of the bias finger 34 forresiliently urging the lever arm 32 and the closure 30 toward rotationin the clockwise direction about the axis of the pivot pin 35, forresiliently holding the parts in the open configuration illustrated inFIG. 5. Thus, the trigger button 51 can be released and a closure 30will remain open.

When it is desired to close the closure 30, the upper surface 52 a ofthe trigger button 51 is pushed downwardly, as by the user's thumb,thereby pivoting the lever arm 55 in a clockwise direction, against theurging of the bias spring 61, thereby pivoting the lever arm 32 in acounter clockwise direction, for returning the closure 32 to its closedposition, illustrated in FIG. 4.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that there is provided an improvedkettle with a spout closure retention mechanism, which resilientlyretains the spout closure in each of open and closed positions, and ismanually actuatable for moving the closure to the opposite position.

The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanyingdrawings is offered by way of illustration only and not as a limitation.While particular embodiments have been shown and described, it will beapparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications maybe made without departing from the broader aspects of applicants'contribution. The actual scope of the protection sought is intended tobe defined in the following claims when viewed in their properperspective based on the prior art.

1. A kettle comprising: a vessel, a spout communicating with the vessel,a handle on the vessel, a closure movable between open and closedconditions relative to the spout, and an actuator assembly carried bythe vessel and coupled to the closure and manually operable foreffecting movement of the closure between its open and closedconditions, the actuator assembly including a retaining mechanism forretaining the closure in each of its open and closed conditions.
 2. Thekettle of claim 1, wherein the actuator assembly is disposed on thehandle.
 3. The kettle of claim 1, wherein the closure is mounted forpivotal movement between its open and closed conditions.
 4. The kettleof claim 3, wherein the closure is mounted on the handle.
 5. The kettleof claim 1, wherein the actuator assembly is disposed for pivotalmovement relative to the handle.
 6. The kettle of claim 5, wherein theactuator assembly projects downwardly beneath the handle in a firstposition corresponding to the closed condition of the closure foractuation by a finger of a user's hand, the actuator assembly projectingupwardly above the handle in a second position corresponding to the opencondition of the closure for actuation by the sum of a user's hand. 7.The kettle of claim 1, wherein the actuator assembly includes a firstlever and the closure includes a second lever engageable with the firstlever.
 8. the kettle of claim 7, wherein the first and second leversrespectively have first and second teeth disposed in meshing engagementwith each other.
 9. The vessel of claim 1, wherein the retainingmechanism includes an over-center spring and engageable with the closurefor resiliently retaining it in each of its open and closed conditions.10. The kettle of claim 8, wherein the spring is a leaf spring.